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UNITED NATIONS, Jun 08 (APP): Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, criticized the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s aid delivery system, calling the use of “aid distribution” a form of “humanitarian camouflage”.
In a post on X, She described the move as “an essential tactic of this genocide”.
“History will prove right those who had sounded the alarm, and it will be of no consolation: the damage is done,” Albanese wrote, placing blame on what she called the “moral and political corruption of the world we live in”.
The statement comes amid repeated reports of deadly Israeli gunfire near aid distribution points in Gaza, where hundreds of Palestinians have been killed while attempting to access humanitarian assistance.
Meanwhile, Israel threatened on Sunday to prevent a ship carrying a dozen pro-Palestinian activists and some aid from reaching Gaza, saying its military would use “any means necessary” to prevent the vessel from breaching an Israeli naval blockade of the coastal enclave, according to media reports.
The civilian ship, called the Madleen, is operating under the auspices of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an international grass-roots campaign that opposes Israel’s nearly two-decade-long blockade of Gaza. The ship set sail from Sicily on June 1.
The boat’s tracker showed it off the coast of Egypt on Sunday, and the coalition said it was sailing “just 160 nautical miles from Gaza.” The passengers include the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and Rima Hassan, a member of the European Parliament. Rima is a French jurist and politician of Palestinian origin.
Israel imposed the blockade on Gaza after Hamas won Palestinian elections and took over the coastal strip in 2007. Israeli officials have said the blockade is necessary to prevent weapons smuggling into the enclave.
Israel recently completely barred the entry of any humanitarian aid for 80 days, bringing the territory to the brink of famine, according to international aid organizations.
The Madleen is probably carrying only a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid. The coalition said in a statement that it was bringing urgently needed goods, including baby formula, flour, rice, diapers, medical supplies and children’s prosthetics.
But Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said he had instructed the country’s military to prevent the vessel from reaching Gaza.
In a blunt statement, he said, “To Greta the antisemite and her friends, propagandists for Hamas — I say clearly: You would do well to turn back, because you won’t get to Gaza. Israel will act against any attempt to breach the blockade or aid terrorist organizations by sea, air or land.”
Ms. Thunberg has been an outspoken opponent of Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and its actions in the enclave.
“We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying,” Ms. Thunberg said last week. “Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity. And no matter how dangerous this mission is, it’s not even near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the live-streamed genocide.”
Israel’s military has blocked past attempts by pro-Palestinian activists to bring aid to Gaza by sea, including by force. In 2010, nine passengers aboard the Mavi Marmara, part of a flotilla carrying aid from Turkiye to Gaza, were killed in an Israeli commando raid, stirring international outrage and damaging Turkish-Israeli relations. A 10th passenger died from his wounds years later.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has described the interception of the Mavi Marmara as “an unlawful and deadly attack” and said the Madleen’s mission is “a continuation of that legacy — a refusal to surrender to silence, fear, or complicity” in the face of the siege of Gaza.
Another recent attempt by the coalition to challenge the blockade was thwarted. A ship called Conscience left Tunisia in late April carrying human rights activists and aid and was scheduled to stop in Malta to pick up more people, including Ms. Thunberg. But the ship was rocked by explosions off the coast of Malta, setting it on fire.
The passengers and crew were not harmed, but the mission was abandoned, according o reports.